Important Factors to Consider When Developing a Mobile App

Are you interested in developing a mobile app? Have you been taking programming and design lessons from schools like the Austin Coding Academy? Even if you hire someone else to do most (or all) of the work, it’s still important that you do you a fair amount of research first. There are numerous factors that must be considered when creating an app.

Here are some things you need to know in order to get started:

Development tools – Appery.io, GoodBarber, AppMakr and Appcelerator are among the top app development platforms. You should consider working on the app in an integrated development environment (IDE). Will you be able to control the source code? Are some types of testing tools included? Will you be able to modify the application as the design evolves? Other features that should be included in the ideal app development environment include example code and extensive documentation. AustinCodingAcademy.com offers great courses on Full Stack development.

Platform support (device and OS) – In the age of mobile phones, cross device and platform support is essential. There is a wide variety of mobile devices and tablets these days using different operating systems. The screen size differs widely as well. It’s difficult to create an app that supports everything. It will cost a lot more to develop, but if you are running a business and plan to market the app, it may be a worthwhile investment. If you can’t afford cross-device and cross-platform development, you’ll need to decide whether you would rather put the app on Google Play or the Apple store.

Sophisticated features – What kind of advanced features would you like your app to have? Since people are using their mobile devices to do more and more things these days (from GPS to video chatting), it’s not surprising that app developers are making their products do more advanced things as well. Ideally, you’ll want it to be adapted to match the look and feel of your brand. The Mozilla Developer Network offers a good starter tutorial on making applications capable of running online AND offline.

User interaction – The app’s performance and user interface are extremely important considerations. If it’s difficult to use, or has an unconventional design that people are not used to, they’re not going to be using it for long. The idea is to create something that even a first-time app user will be able to use without having to through a detailed tutorial.

Design and colors – If you’re developing a game app, you must work on creating seamless animation. Sitepoint.com explains that today’s developers can integrate an entire palette of CSS, HTML5 and Javascript based animations for applications. Even if it’s just a basic app with nothing too fancy, it still needs to feature a neat design with smart use of colors. A cool blue palette will convey a calm, relaxed feeling, while an orange palette might convey optimism. Also, color should be used to break up sections and highlight important elements.

Keep in mind that the more sophisticated you make your app, the more money it will likely cost to develop and maintain. However, it’s a necessary investment for business in today’s smartphone and tablet crazed world.